


Call of the Void

by KaidaShade



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, I really don't know what to tag right now so more will be added as they become relevant, Multi, Rating is likely to go up, Superheroes, father/son bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-18 17:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4714763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaidaShade/pseuds/KaidaShade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One hero falls, another rises.  The Executioner, a roving vigilantee with a deadly nemesis, is forced to retire before it is too late.</p>
<p>Years in the future, but not many, a young woman and her best friend discover their true nature and begin on the path to heroism.  Soon they will learn it's not all beating up muggers and wearing fancy costumes...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the first long fic I've actually done for Homestuck. This was fairly heavily inspired by Real Men Wear Tights by the fantastic Bananaramses and SergeantMeow, which everyone should read. I was just disappointed by the decided lack of Equius superhero fanfic (and long fanfic for Equius in general to be honest) and decided that there was a void there (hah!) to fill. 
> 
> Comments, feedback etc always appreciated. Art by Takoto, who's blog can be found at takoto.co.uk. Seriously, go check him out he's awesome.

A dark, hulking shape landed heavily on the roof of an angular building in the London dusk, then bolted across it, seeming to disappear into shadow as he ran.  He wasn't alone.  Another figure, monstrous and cackling like a madman, thudded down onto the roof with a cracking of concrete.  "Come on out, Executioner."  He called, mocking "Can't hide for-motherFUCKING EVER!"   
  
The rooftop reverberated with the echoes of that thunderous voice, but as the echoes died only silence followed.  Even the traffic of the city street below, thronging even at midnight and oblivious to the standoff above, was inaudible.  Not even a breeze stirred, and the city lights seemed dim and distant.  The figure snarled.  "I know what you're motherfuckin doing you traitorous coward!"  He bellowed, the silence seeming to flatten his words.  "Relying on cheap powers.  Come out and fight me!  Or did our last motherfuckin dance leave you too sore?"     
Only silence, silence so complete it almost seemed deafening.  The monstrous man roared his frustration and slammed his fist into an air conditioning unit, the metal casing crumpling like tissue paper.  He stormed across the roof, lashing out at shadows and cursing, to no avail.  His prey was gone.  "Fuckin fine"  he snarled.  "Hide away.  But I'll FIND YOU!  And when I DO, I'll rip your motherfuckin HEAD OFF and hand it to HER ON A SILVER MOTHERFUCKIN PLATTER"   
  
He turned, leapt, and a crunch of concrete told of him landing against a nearby wall and climbing down, making  his own  handholds in the side of the building.   
  
  
  
The man known as Executioner let out a held breath, and in a rush the city sounds returned, the lights brightening as he released his hold on the Void.  Pain throbbed through him, a vicious ache centred on his ribs.  Even the Kevlar armour he wore couldn't save him from his adversary's crushing strength, and he knew at least two ribs were broken.  He twisted gingerly to unclasp the armour, stifling a sigh of relief when he could breathe a little easier.  He had lost, and he was hurt, but he would live.   
  
He bit back a curse as he pushed himself upright, using his bow for support and pushing his long, black hair away from his visor.  It had come loose at some point during the fight and was matted with blood from his nose and mouth.  At least one of his teeth was missing.  This seemed to be happening to him a lot these days.  He would escape with his life, but all he'd really achieved was to slow his foe down.  After tonight, he thought grimly,  he wouldn't even be able to do that for a while.   
  
He closed his eyes, letting the Void wrap around him, gathering him into nonexistence and releasing him in his own living room a few moments later.  Not that time really had any meaning in the endless silence and blackness through which he travelled.   He finished unbuckling his armour, leaving it in a heap on the couch on his way to the bathroom, where he stripped off the rest of his clothing to examine his injuries.   
  
Not good.  The right side of his chest was a mess of purple and black bruises that flared with pain when he touched them and his face too was swollen, his nose broken yet again.  Myriad other bruises dotted and striped his body, and he sighed to himself.  If he could move tomorrow, he'd be fortunate.  He healed faster than a normal human, but even he would take time to recover from a beating like this.  Too much time.   
  
He cleaned the blood from his face, checked himself for any other breaks and downed more painkillers than was probably wise before retreating to his bed, exhausted.  Sleep didn't come easily to him these days.  If some supervillain didn't kill him, he thought, the insomnia would.     
  
He couldn't do this anymore.   



	2. New Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans occur, and a secret is revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, chapter 2! Some of you may be thinking this has a coherent update schedule. I'm afraid not. Schedule is currently 'whenever I feel like it' 
> 
> Art once again by Takoto (Takoto.co.uk)

_Five years later_  


Equius sighed to himself and checked his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes, then looked up the street towards where Nepeta always approached their habitual corner from.  She was late.  Again.  It was becoming a habit, but it wasn't like her, and beneath the surface irritation that they were probably going to have to run to school again Equius was worried.

 

Before he could really start to fret, however, his friend came bouncing into view down the street, waving at him eagerly.  Her backpack dangled from her shoulder and her free hand held her blue, cat-faced hat tight to her head over her red curls.  He rolled his eyes to express his displeasure, then let out an 'oof' of surprise as she leapt on him in her customary apology tackle hug.  It didn't even move him.  When she let go with a hasty apology for her lateness she barely came up to his chest, and her lithe build made her look decidedly delicate next to his hulking frame.

 

He was right, they did have to run.  At least they were both reasonably fit, Nepeta being the school's star gymnast while Equius was a mainstay of the field athletics team.  Still, he was trying to conceal how out of breath he was when they finally made it into their classroom.  Keeping up with Nepeta was tricky even with his long legs, and she wasn't even breathing hard.  Still, nobody seemed to take any notice of their arrival.  Nepeta grinned at him as he pulled a planner from his bag and checked his timetable, peering over his shoulder.  Sure, they weren't in that many of the same classes anymore ever since the teachers realised back in fifth grade that neither of them was dumb, just distracting each other, but she still liked to know where he was.

He got through the morning's classes without anything particularly exciting happening, except for his adopted brother John 'accidentally' dropping a live woodlouse down the back of his shirt during biology.  Those little legs tickled, darnit!  Nepeta was decidedly unsympathetic when he met her for lunch, choosing to laugh uproariously at his complaints instead.  She was still giggling as she shed her green jacket, revealing several scratches across her upper arm.

"What happened here?"  He asked her, gently touching the marks with a finger.  She recoiled as if he'd hurt her and he removed his hand.  "I am sorry! Did I-"

"It's fine Equius!"  She interrupted hastily, well used to stopping him from getting worked up over things.  "Just a cat scratch, that's all."  

He eyed her sceptically as she tugged the jacket back on to hide the marks.  "I know your cat is huge, but they seem big even for her."

She shrugged.  "I'm fine.  You're such a worrywart, seriously, you're not my mom y'know."

"No, but you are my best friend and I do not like to see you hurt."

"Don't worry about me, doofus.  What you need to worry about is how you're going to get back at John for that bug!"  She reached up and tugged him down by his long, black hair into a two person team huddle.

 

Later, at the end of the day, John caught up with them as they headed out of the gates.  "Heey Equius, Nepeta how was your day?"  He asked, as carefree as whatever breeze had dishevelled his hair so thoroughly.  But then again, John always looked like that.  Equius glared at him through his glasses

"I never found that pillbug."  He said.  Nepeta snorted, John tried not to.

"You're not still mad are you?  It was just a prank"

"Of course not.  I just feel you ought to know"

"Oh, I guess that's okay.  I mean, you can't hold a grudge against your big brother can you?

"You are two months older than me, it hardly counts"

 

They walked home together, Nepeta leaving them about halfway to return to her own house and leaving the brothers in silence.  It hadn't exactly been a huge shock to Equius that he was adopted; though both he and John were blue eyed and black haired that was where their resemblance ended.  While John was pale and willowy and constantly unkempt, Equius was dark and bulky, his silky straight hair the envy of half of the girls at school.  John needed his glasses to see past his own nose, while Equius' shades were more of a fashion accessory.  John was a prankster, playful and loud, while Equius tended to fade into the background like an awkward shadow.  Their dad had still acted shocked when he'd brought up the matter if his parentage though, demanding to know who had told him and insisting that he loved him and was proud of him.

 

Still, woodlice aside he and John got on well, and he even told him to enjoy himself when they got home and John said he was going to get straight in the bath.  He disappeared upstairs with a yell of greeting to their dad, who was sat watching the news and petting their enormous white dog with his pipe in his mouth.  Equius wandered over to join him, burying his fingers in the beast's fur and leaning back as he tried to lick his face.  "Down, boy."  He smiled.  He spent a little time stroking the dog, until he heard the water shut off upstairs, then waited a couple more minutes before wrapping his arms around the dog's middle and hefting him with a grunt of effort.  He was the only one who could actually pick him up, though the dog had tolerated John's respectable attempts good-naturedly.

"Equius"  his father's voice held a note of concern, "where are you going with Harley?"

He paused, face carefully neutral.  "I just thought John might enjoy some company in the bath"  he said innocently, though he could feel a faint prickle of sweat at the back of his neck.  His father said nothing, but Equius caught the twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he waved him off with his pipe.

 

Equius was fairly certain parents weren't supposed to encourage sibling prank wars, but in the moments when he was bolting from the bathroom with John's fury and Harley's excited barking on his heels, he was almost glad theirs did.

 

He spent the rest of the evening hiding in his room from John's prankster wrath on the pretext of doing homework.  Both he and John had been raised to be studious, so his brother was likely to be doing the same.  Or so he suspected. Frankly he neither knew nor cared what John got up to in his room, so long as it didn't involve boobytrapping Equius' things.

 

He soon got all of his work done, breezing through math and electronics homework with barely any effort, and settled down on his bed with an old Star Wars novel.  So he remained until a tap on his window jolted him out of the story.  He jerked upright, casting about in alarm.  The tapping came again and he leapt to his feet as he spotted a familiar face peering at him through the glass.

 

Nepeta.

 

He hurried over, nudging the window open with care.  It wouldn't be the first time he'd broken one and he didn't want to knock her off either.  "Nepeta!  What are you doing... how did  you even get up here?"  He realized with a jolt of alarm that she appeared to be clinging to the brickwork by the window with one hand, the other tucked against her body.  

"No time to explain, Equihiss"  she said.  He frowned.  Even if she hadn't been clinging to his wall on the second floor,  the cat puns were a dead giveaway that she was upset.  "Can you let me in?  I need help, I didn't know mew else to ask."

 

He stepped aside and she slipped effortlessly through the window, only stumbling when her feet hit the floor.  He moved instinctively to catch her and she leaned on him gratefully, her slight weight little burden to him as he set her down carefully on the bed.  It was only then he noticed what she was wearing; it looked like one if her gymnastics leotards, green and blue, with a sort of utility belt clasped around her waist.  She had some sort of mask pushed up into her hair, and after a moment he recognized the catlike features.

 

She hissed in pain, which drew his attention back to the matter at hand.  She was attempting to tug down the shoulder of the outfit one-handed, and he tried to stifle a gasp as he realized the fabrics was torn and stained with blood.  His fingers shook as he unzipped the back of the leotard and gently pulled the fabric away, his stomach turning at the sight of a long gash across her collarbone.  "What happened?"  He breathed, horrified.  She didn't meet his eyes and said nothing, and he put the question aside as he grabbed a towel from the bathroom and pressed it against the wound.  "Nepeta, tell me what is going on."  


"You wouldn't understand"

"Try me."  

"Okay fine.  Fine.  I've been... going out at night.  Looking for trouble.  Fighting criminals."  

He stared at her, then released the pressure on the cut slightly when she winced.  "Like some sort of superhero?"  He said.  Not unheard of, everyone knew that Seattle and New York and Detroit and other big cities had their own superpowered protectors, and just as powerful criminals, but here?  And Nepeta... "You do not have any powers.  This is insane"  

She shook her head.  "No, Equius.  I'm sorry I hid it from you for so long but... I do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter isn't written yet so it might be a bit longer before I update again.

Art by [Takoto](takoto.co.uk)

 

"What."

"I have powers, Equius!  I know it sounds crazy but it's true.  I've always had them.  Its just recently I've started trying to use them fur something good."  

He stared at her for a moment, then deliberately looked down, checking the cut beneath the towel.  Nope, still bleeding.  His thoughts were in disarray.  Nepeta, a superhero?  His Nepeta, his tiny friend who always seemed so delicate and yet had always been so tough.  The only person outside of his family who ever seemed to take much notice of him.

"What can you do?"  He asked eventually, his voice rasping a little.  

"I'm fast and agile, but mew knew that already."  She smiled, "I guess you'll furgive me for saying I have catlike reflexes.  And I'm purrceptive.  I see things other people miss.  Like you."

"What?"  His head came up, a frown knitting his brow.

"What, you nefur noticed?  People don't see you.  Especially when you're nervous.  Their eyes just go right past you."

"I noticed."  He muttered.  What did that have to do with anything.  It was no secret to him- and a fairly sore subject- that most of the kids at school found him repellent and would prefer to ignore his existence unless he spoke to them directly.  Nepeta sighed, reaching up to steal his glasses as she often did when he was upset.  The familiar gesture was reassuring, seemed to calm both of them.

"No, listen, it's not like that.  I always thought it was really weird, but there was one time when someone was looking for you and you were literally two feet in front of them and they didn't notice until I pointed you out.  But I never have any trouble spotting you in a crowd because you're so big."

He frowned.   That was kind of weird, but… “What are you trying to say here, exactly?”   
“I dunno.  Maybe you’ve got some kind of weird invisibility power that you never realised?”   
“That is ridiculous.”   

“No it’s not.  It makes perfect sense.”   
“No it doesn’t.”   
“Yes it does”   
“No”   
“Yes”   
“No”   
“Yes!  Okay, you’re doing that thing again, stop it.”   
“I apologise.  But you are still wrong.  And you still should not be running around fighting people!  It is far too dangerous.”   
“I have to, Equihiss!”  She insisted, half rising then wincing as it pulled at her injured shoulder.  “This city has been getting more and more dangerous as we’ve gotten older.  It needs a hero!  And I don’t see anyone else with purrwers!”     
It took him a second to decipher that pun.  “Then I am coming with you.”   
“No way!  It’s way too dangerous!”  She glared at him from behind his own shades, and he met her gaze determinedly.

“If I cannot make that decision for you, you cannot make it for me.”  He folded his arms, or at least as well as one could while holding a towel to one’s best friend’s shoulder.  “We will be safer together. And even though I do  not have any powers, I am still one of the strongest people we know.  I can fight.  And I can protect you.”   
“We can protect  each other. ”  She insisted, leaning closer and peering at him over his shades.  He swiped them back, putting them back on his face.     
“Fine.”  He took the towel away, finally satisfied that the bleeding had stopped.  “This may need stitches, I… believe I can still remember how to do those.”  

 

It wasn’t the best stitching job ever, but one liberal application of antiseptic later Equius was satisfied that she at least wasn’t going to die from an infection.  “I still think you should go to the hospital.”  He remarked, and she shook her head viciously, then hissed at the sting.   
“No way!  It’s just a cut.  Besides, they’ll tell Mom and I’ll be in huge trouble.  But anyway, we need to test out your powers!”   
“I do not  have any powers.”  Equius insisted, frustrated, as he tossed the bloody towel into his laundry basket.  He’d just tell his dad he cut himself on a project or something if he found it.  Not that he was a good liar.     
“Aww c’mon, humour me.  It’s worth a shot.”  She leaned towards him, her green eyes huge in her freckled face.  He sighed, rolled his eyes.   
“How?  Your theory is that I turn invisible when I am nervous or uninterested in conversation.  And, more inconveniently, that it does not work on you.  How do we test this?”   
  


Clearly he had a point.  She looked thoughtful, then perked up all of a sudden.  “How about we use your dad as a guinea pig?”   
He hummed thoughtfully, sitting back down on the bed and running his hand through his hair to pull it out of his face.  “That could work.  It is still not going to, but it could.”   
“Well yeah it’s not going to work with that attitude!”  She rolled her eyes right back at him, reaching out with her good arm to punch him in the shoulder.  “Buck up, mister!  You go down there and you do something really embarrassing in front of your dad and you hope to whatever god you believe in that he doesn’t see you!”   
“Stop yelling!  Alright, alright, I am going!”  

 

He went.  This was ridiculous, but he thought he might as well put his effort into it.  He paused on the stairs, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes and thinking about not being seen.  He’d never actually thought about it before, not consciously, but he felt something stir in the corner of his awareness.  Or, more precisely, he felt nothing stir, a blank space where a presence should be but wasn’t.  It was unsettling to say the least.  He kept it there, not probing any further at it as he padded quietly out into the living room, willing his dad not to see him.  

 

He walked right in front of him.  The man didn’t even look up.  Neither did Harley, who was inclined to rub his white fur on anyone who came near him and demand affection.  He stopped, walked back to the door.  Nothing.  He stopped right in front of him, standing there blocking his view of the tv.  His father tipped his head, but still seemed to be looking through him, a perplexed frown on his face as though he wasn’t sure what was blocking his view.  So clearly he wasn’t invisible, but… this was interesting.  He stepped aside again, waving his hand in front of his father’s eyes, all while willing him not to see.  Not even that got his attention.  “Dad?”  He asked, and finally, finally the man’s eyes focused on him, and he smiled.     
“Oh, hello son, I didn’t realise you were there.  Did you need something?”  He asked, squinting slightly as he looked at Equius.  He seemed to be having difficulty focusing on him, at least until Equius dropped his desire to be unseen.     
“I… was just wondering if we had any milk?” He said, a lame excuse.  His father chuckled.    
“No idea.  Go and check, you are allowed in the fridge you know.”  Equius nodded, and ducked out of the door, his mind reeling.   
  
Nepeta took one look at his face when he returned and grinned.  “I was right!”  She crowed.   
“Shh!  My father will hear you!”     
“I was right.”  She repeated, quieter, and bounced a little on the bed.  “What happened?”   
He told her, and her eyes went huge with excitement.  “This is amazing!  We’re gonna be superheroes!  I’ ll come get you tomorrow night, we can sneak out.  You’re gonna be amazing at sneaking, seriously.”    
“No.  Not until your wound heals properly,  I will not have you risking aggravating it.”   
She sighed melodramatically and stood, wobbling a little.  Equius reached out  to steady her with one massive hand, and she leaned on him gratefully for a moment.    “Okay, maybe you’ve got a point.  I better get home.”   
“I will take you.”  It was only a ten minute walk, he thought, there was no way his father would notice he was gone.    
  
Still, the walk was a rather surreal experience.  This late, their sleepy suburb was deserted and the quiet seemed only amplified by Equius’ desire to not be seen.  Nepeta’s legs weren’t damaged, but she seemed a little unsteady and soon enough he ended up hoisting her onto his shoulders, which elicited a gleeful giggle as she clung to his hair lightly.  “Onwards, noble steed!”  She teased as he held onto her lower legs and set off.  He rolled his eyes, but didn’t really mind.  They’d always done this when they were kids, once Nepeta had realised that Equius was huge and made an amazing mount from which to lord it over the playground.  All had feared the mighty huntress and her noble warhorse!

 

He soon had her at her door, and rather than going in via the front she made him boost her up onto his shoulders so she could climb onto the porch roof and in through her bedroom window.  She leaned down, grinning at him in, her eyes shining in the street lights.   He quirked an eyebrow at her.  “Thanks, Equius.  We’re gonna be the best team, just you wait!  Oh, but you’re gonna need a costume too… never mind, we can work on that at school tomorrow.  See you then!”   
And with that, she disappeared back through her bedroom window, leaving him standing on the steps.  He watched the window for a while, then jumped when the light came on in her mother’s room, and bolted back towards his own house. 


	4. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Equius and Nepeta make their first forays into heroism, but someone is watching...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, a long one! Sorry it took so long to write, I got caught up in various things and the bank scene was damn hard to write for some reason. Some violence in this chapter but nothing gory and nothing you wouldn't expect from a superhero comic.
> 
> No art for this chapter, since Takoto has been busy.

Nepeta managed to hold off for a week to let her arm heal, and she and Equius spent their lunch breaks at school with their heads together in the library, planning how they would patrol the city and what they would do in hypothetical situations.  Or at least, Equius was thinking about tactics.  Nepeta listened and occasionally contributed, but mostly just told him he was overthinking all of this and spent most of the time sketching costume ideas for him and trying to come up with hero names for them both.  She settled on Blue Lioness for herself, but Equius gave her more trouble.  He had to reject several suggestions that sounded like bad comic book villains and contained the words ‘dark’ or ‘mystery’ or ‘stallion’, or in fact any references to horses whatsoever, much as he may adore the noble creatures.

 

The costume ideas were mostly impractical considering his limited wardrobe and sewing skills, but when they met on Friday night he'd managed to put something together that didn't look ridiculous or impede his movement, which seemed the important things.  His usual heavy boots, black jeans, a dark blue jacket with black, angular patterns and a long, pointed hood, which had lost the sleeves at some point, and his usual shades absent.  His bright cobalt eyes were probably less recognisable than the dark lenses to anyone who knew him.  What did it matter when he seemed to be able to hide anyway?

 

Nepeta was waiting for him a block from his house, fidgeting impatiently with her mask fixed over her face and her arms folded.  She looked him over critically, then shook her head.  "You could've at least tried to look heroic."  She said.  "You didn't even bofur with a mask, it's pawsible someone will recognise you and then we'll be in trouble."

He shrugged, then flipped his hood up in an attempt to appease her.  She huffed something about how he was going to get shot, then rolled her eyes when he finally pointed out that she was the one who'd said he had invisibility powers.  "Just be careful."  She said, bounding off in the direction of the city centre

"You be careful!"  He retorted as he jogged after her, his long legs allowing him to just about keep up.

 

It didn't take them long to find trouble.  Equius had no idea how Nepeta did it, but she paused all of a sudden, a statue etched in streetlights,then darted off in a new direction so fast he could barely keep up.  He'd always known she was agile, graceful and strong for her slight frame, but she left him in the dust as she vaulted a dumpster with effortless fluidity.  There was a yell of pain and a frightened cry, followed by sounds of struggle, and Equius just got around the corner when Nepeta leapt over the head of a flailing man, hurled herself at him feet first and used his broad chest as a launching platform to throw herself back at her target.  She collided with him fist first, sending him sprawling and landing in a crouch over him, her food planted on his wrist.  Equius spotted the gleam of a knife blade as he hurried over, which he kicked away.  Nepeta, at least,seemed unharmed.

 

A whimper from behind them caught his attention and he looked over to see a woman pressed up against the dumpster, shirt torn and eyes wide with fear.  It didn't take a genius to work out what the man had intended.  Nepeta nudged him.  "Hold this asshole" she said, and once he'd crouched and taken the man's wrists she got up and approached the woman carefully, hands up and open to placate her.  "It's okay.  You're safe now, he can't hurt you."  

 

She glanced over Nepeta's shoulder, squinting slightly as though she was having difficulty seeing who was even holding him down, and Equius had to focus on being there and visible until she seemed suitably reassured.  While Nepeta focused on getting her to call the cops (and preferably not tell them too many details about her rescuers), Equius slipped a zip tie from the pocket of his jeans and tied the man's hands.  He'd suspected those would come in useful.

 

They waited until Nepeta heard sirens approaching, then made their getaway up the fire escape on the side of the building.  Nepeta grinned at him, her eyes shining gleefully with reflected street lights from below.  "See?  That was awesome, we make a grrreat team!"  

"You did all the fighting.  I was merely a springboard for you, apparently."  He pointed out, and she nudged him as she jogged off across the rooftop.  

"You can get the next one."

 

He did, in fact, get the next one.  The mugger never saw him coming until his arm was locked around his throat, dragging him bodily away from his victim while his knife hand was clamped in Equius' iron grip and squeezed until he dropped the weapon.  Nepeta scooped it up and waggled it in his face chidingly.  "You really should know better."  She remarked, then pocketed the knife and turned to check on the young man they'd rescued, who was stammering thanks, while Equius restrained the wrongdoer.  

 

They stopped perhaps half a dozen minor crimes that night, and the only injury sustained by either of them was when Equius tripped over a stray cat that had failed to notice him and went sprawling, scraping his palms and elbows.  Nepeta, rather than helping him, doubled over giggling as he muttered to himself in irritation and dusted himself off.  It didn't stop him from kicking a particularly belligerent drug dealer in the gut when he pulled a gun on him sometime around midnight.  They always called the cops and fled, leaving the criminals bound and waiting, and as far as they knew they went unrecognised.     
  
It was sometime around two in the morning when they finally called it a night, both of them yawning and exhausted, but Nepeta grinning from ear to ear and Equius actually smiling properly for once.  It was odd; he’d always been strong and always had to be so careful, so gentle, and it felt strangely cathartic to finally unleash his strength, not to mention finding out you really did have superpowers.  

 

He left Nepeta at her house with a promise of ‘same time tomorrow’ and headed back to his own, sneaking back in through the front door and willing himself not to be seen.  Only Harley, sleeping in his basket under the stairs, bothered to look up when he came in , and thumped his tail against the side of his basket in confusion until Equius revealed himself and crouched down to pet him into silence.  He went upstairs and just about managed to strip off and kick the outfit under the bed before he collapsed among the sheets and fell asleep.

 

The next morning he had to be poked awake by John because he slept straight through his alarm.  If by ‘poked awake’ one meant ‘had the dog dropped on him in vengeance by a cackling asshole’.  Aside from the rude awakening the day went by as usual, if perhaps he was a little more tired than usual and the dark circles under his eyes a little more prominent.  He got used to the reduced sleep over the week though, with the nights after continuing much the same as the first.  His ‘stealth mode’ as she had taken to calling it much to his distaste, seemed to be instinctive and something he’d been doing half his life anyway, so it wasn’t much effort to sneak up on criminals and take them down that way.  It was all disorganised lowlifes, muggings and assaults in progress, that they stopped, at least until Saturday rolled around.

 

They’d arranged to meet up with a couple of John’s friends during the day, and lunchtime found Nepeta, Equius, John and the perpetually cool, shade-clad Strider brothers in a diner off Main Street.  John, true to form, was halfway through demolishing a gigantic hot dog and small mountain of fries, while Equius poked at his own veggie burger and tried not to look at Dirk Strider too much, just in case he accidentally met his eyes through those eternal pointy anime shades.  Seriously, were those things glued to his face; Equius hadn’t known him for very long since they’d only moved to town a few months ago, but he’d never seen him without them.  And why?  He had such a nice face.  Nepeta, of course, noticed his behaviour, and he felt her nudge him playfully under the table, but in the process of not looking at Dirk he’d ended up looking at the TV behind his artfully-styled blond head, where  an image of police cars with their sirens flashing was playing.   
  
Nepeta followed his gaze, and soon enough the others had turned around to see what he was looking at.  “Bank robbery, huh?”  Dave remarked from Dirk’s other side.  “That’s some cliche superhero bullshit.  If we actually had one in this town I’d expect them to go swooping in right now, kick some ass and then flee before the cops can arrest their sorry selves as vigilantees.”

 

Nepeta nudged him again, and he glanced sidelong at her.  Her intense green eyes were focused and determined, and he took her arm under the table and squeezed gently.  No, they couldn’t, it was broad daylight and it would be weird for them to disappear now.  She narrowed her eyes and kicked him hard in the ankle, and he had to stifle a yelp.  Much as he disliked to admit it, Dave had a point and so did Nepeta.  This was prime superhero territory, and if they were going to be heroes, they couldn’t just stick to the small time stuff that suited them.   Dirk was looking at him strangely - as far as he could tell, anyway- and Equius cleared his throat and stood.  

“I apologise, I just realised the time.  Nepeta and I have to meet with someone about our homework for Monday.”  He said.  It was a terrible excuse, but his dear, gullible brother looked alarmed at the prospect of homework he couldn’t remember.  “Do not worry John, you are not in our Geography class so I am sure you will be fine.”  He added, and the other boy sighed in relief and waved him off.   
“Fine, ditch us then.  Go be responsible and stuff.”  He said casually, sticking another fry in his mouth.  The Striders were both looking at Equius now, but he did his best to ignore those disconcerting, dark-shaded stares.  There was no way they could be suspicious.  No way at all.   
  
Nepeta didn’t let him linger but dragged him out of the diner and around the corner, tugging her mask out of her backpack and stripping off her hoodie and beanie, tying the former around her waist.  Not the best disguise, but at least she wasn’t wearing that leotard under her clothes constantly.  She gave him a critical look, then shrugged.  “You’ll be fine, nobody’ll see you anyway.”  She said   
“Security cameras”  He pointed out succinctly.   
“Fine.  Put this on.”  She dug around in her bag again and pulled out another mask, a plain dark blue affair that covered the eyes.  He eyed it skeptically.  “You needed one, I made you one, put it on.”   
  
They didn’t have time to argue, and once he’d done so they were off in the direction of the bank, Nepeta taking to the rooftops while Equius slipped unseen through the streets below.  It didn’t take long, and the screaming of police sirens and the bank’s alarm didn’t exactly make it difficult to find either.  They regrouped in an alley behind the bank, able to watch the back door but apparently unseen by the cops surrounding it.  “Do you think you could just walk past them?”  Nepeta whispered, and Equius considered it.   
“It could work.  But if it does not they will probably shoot me.”  He remarked.  He didn’t really like the sound of being shot, in all honesty.  Judging by Nepeta’s expression, she didn’t much like the idea of him getting shot either.     
“Knock out the cops”   
“No!”  He said, a bit too loud, and dropped his voice.  “We are heroes, Nepeta.”   
“Yeah, so don’t kill them.  Just knock them out so we can get in without getting murdered.  They’ll understand once we take out all the bank robbers for them.”   
  
He wrestled with this for a while before deciding that yes, it probably was the only way to get inside, and the cops really weren’t going to manage this without someone getting killed.  He could hear distant shouting from the front, someone with a megaphone, others shouting back.  They had to act before someone started firing.   
  
Nepeta almost didn’t notice when he slipped away, he was focusing so hard on being absent, invisible.  The two cops certainly didn’t notice until he’d clapped a hand over each of their mouths and brought their heads together with a muffled thud.  They dropped and he dashed past, Nepeta on his heels  as he shoved the door open.  “What now?”  He asked as they jogged up the stairs and into the building proper.  If he let her come up with the plan and didn’t think about it too much he didn’t have to think about the fact that he just assaulted two officers of the law.  Which did not seem very heroic.   
“Find the security office, figure out if they’ve got hostages and where they are, and then we beat them up!”  She said, an incongruous grin on her face.  Equius suspected that she was enjoying this far too much.   
  
The bank was something of a maze, and as it turned out they didn’t even find the office before they found the bank robbers.  Equius paused when he heard approaching voices, dragging Nepeta back by the collar as he listened.   
“Fuck this shit, we’re all gonna get killed, it’s gone way too far!”  One man was saying, and Equius peered around the corner to see his shadow against the wall, gesturing wildly and pacing  “It was supposed to be just simple in and out, now we’re fucked.”   
“Shut the hell up.  It’ll be fine, the boss has a plan.”   
“You always say that!”   
“Yeah, well, ain’t he always gotten us out of tight spots?”   
“Fucking… fine.  Yeah, he has, alright, shit, I’m gonna go see if the pigs are still sat outside the bag door”   
The robber rounded the corner and Nepeta pounced him, kicking him in the chest with both feet and sending him flying into the wall.  His head hit it with a thud and he slumped to the ground.  The other one came running and Equius grabbed him, hauling him back into the shadows with his hand over his mouth.  The guy was older, but Equius had  half a foot of height and probably sixty pounds on him, it wouldn’t have been much of a fight even without superpowers.  “You will answer my questions.”  He muttered, his voice a low growl that implied dire consequences if he didn’t.

 

From him they discovered that the gang consisted of six people, the two they’d captured ending up bundled into a supply closet bound with electrical cables.  They also got directions to where the hostages were being held, in an office off the bank’s main hall.  Nobody even saw them coming; they encountered one other member of the gang and Equius bull-rushed him to the ground before he even realised he was there.

 

Their luck didn’t last.  Taking the guards by surprise was one thing, actually fighting off armed opponents was another.  The fight was brief, a blur of motion and adrenaline, and Equius was vaguely aware of Nepeta as a whirling dervish of feet and fists at his back.  He felt her springboard off of him at one point as he grappled a rifle away from one man, causing it to discharge into the ceiling, and promptly snapped it in half.  He’d never tested his strength like that before and it almost frightened him.  It didn’t frighten him as much as the ease with which he swung the barrel end at another man’s head, catching him a glancing blow that was still enough to drop him. 

 

It was over in minutes, and Equius and Nepeta found themselves stood back to back surrounded by downed men.  Alive, he thought- he hoped- but not getting back up for a while.  The hostages were huddled in one corner, watching them with terrified eyes, and Equius realised vaguely that every single one of them could see him.  He’d have to thank Nepeta for the mask later.  For now though, he took her hand.  “We have to go.”  He muttered.   
“But-”  He held up a hand, pointing towards the door.  Beyond, the sound of voices echoed in the corridor along with the crackle of radio static.  Cops, who had probably heard the violence and come to investigate.  Nepeta nodded reluctantly and let him drag her out, back the way they’d come.  The corridor seemed to darken as they went by, Equius’ powers practically radiating around them.

\-----

“Tonight’s top story; a hostage situation at the central bank today was defused after the perpetrators were incapacitated by two mysterious teenagers.  Police believe the pair are empowered, but they have yet to be identified as they fled the scene and CCTV footage appears to have been tampered with.”  A blurry security camera photo popped up on the TV screen, the centre of the frame obscured by a blue-black blur, as though someone had dropped ink on the film.  “Eyewitnesses describe the pair as a tall, muscular middle-eastern man and a slim, redheaded white girl, both around eighteen years old.  If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are asked to call this number...”  

 

The man sat back in his chair, frowning at the screen.  He knew exactly what that was; not film tampering, but an instinct for concealment as familiar to him as breathing.  But no, it was impossible.  That they would be here-  two  of them, within mere miles of him… it had to be impossible.  Surely, Huntress would have separated them?  Who was he to know her mind, he realised.  Perhaps she thought they would be safer together.  Safer from him.   
  
He got up, pressing a hand to an old wound that protested the movement.  It was one of those nights when everything seemed to hurt.  But he had no time to worry about that.  If these two were going to go vigilante as so many young empowered did, he had to find them.

  
Before someone else did.   



End file.
